Five months after the death of Kate Spade, the company she helped to start, Frances Valentine, is moving forward with its first retail venture - a Madison Avenue pop-up store.
Spade's suicide in June at the age of 55 shocked the fashion community and the team at Frances Valentine has quietly been trying to carry on. Going into retail was always part of the business plan, according to chief executive officer Elyce Arons.
Asked how the company approaches such a delicate and complicated situation with care and without being exploitive, Arons said, “For us, it is our way of honoring Katie and...Read more ...

Lingua Franca Opens First Store on Bleecker

NEW YORK - Lingua Franca is among the new storefronts on Bleecker Street here.
Rachelle Hruska MacPherson, who founded the brand of cashmere sweaters embroidered with phrases in 2016, opened her first store at 382 Bleecker Street earlier this week. The space is one of the seven storefronts Brookfield Properties bought earlier this year with plans to revive the neighborhood, a once-booming retail destination that became a bit of a ghost town in recent years. Lingua Franca, along with Prabal Gurung, Slightly Alabama and Bonberi and Fleurotica, are the tenants involved in the Love, Bleecker...Read more ...